Provisioning dedicated network resources with API services

Abstract

Embodiments are disclosed that provision a cloud-based service together with a dedicated network connection to provision a cloud-based service element. In response to the request both the cloud-based service element and a dedicated network connection are provisioned. Provisioning the cloud-based service element together with the dedicated network connection enables the cloud-based service element to utilize the dedicated network connection.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for provisioning a cloud-based service, the method comprising:
 receiving a user requirement to provision a cloud-based service element, a data center being accessible to an endpoint serving a user associated with the user requirement via a network, the data center serving the cloud-based service element; 
 determining a network topology based on the user requirement, the network topology including a first switching device within the network connecting the endpoint to the data center and a second switching device; and 
 configuring the first switching device and the second switching device to connect the endpoint with the data center by sending one or more type-specific commands to the first switching device and the second switching device, a network connection provisioned based on the configuration of the first switching device and the second switching device. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network connection is provisioned in response to receiving a network configuration request. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more type-specific commands are different from the one or more second type-specific commands. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data center is selected from a plurality of data centers based on an endpoint location of the endpoint. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the data center is selected based on a proximity of the endpoint location to a data center location of the data center. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user requirement includes a required bandwidth. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first switching device is further configured based on the required bandwidth. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network connection is an Ethernet E-Line. 
     
     
       9. A system for provisioning a cloud-based service, the system comprising:
 at least one computing device comprising at least one processor and memory, the at least one computing device implementing a network configuration module, the network configuration module determining a network topology of a network based on a user requirement to provision a cloud-based service element, a data center being accessible to an endpoint serving a user associated with the user requirement via the network, the data center serving the cloud-based service element, the network topology including a first switching device and a second switching device within the network connecting the endpoint to the data center, the first switching device and the second switching device configurable to connect the endpoint to the data center by sending one or more type-specific commands to the first switching device and the second switching device; and 
 a network application programming interface (API) handler module implemented by the at least one computing device, the network API handler module calculating a price of the user requirement based on the network topology. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the price is further calculated based on an endpoint location associated with the endpoint and a data center location associated with the data center. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the endpoint location is a location of an enterprise network associated with the user. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the user requirement includes a required bandwidth. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the price is further calculated based on the required bandwidth. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the price is further calculated based on the cloud-based service element. 
     
     
       15. One or more tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions for performing a computer process on a computing system, the computer process comprising:
 receiving a user requirement to provision a cloud-based service element, a data center being accessible to an endpoint serving a user associated with the user requirement via a network, the data center serving the cloud-based service element; 
 determining a network topology based on the user requirement, the network topology including a first switching device and a second switching device within the network connecting the endpoint to the data center, the first switching device and the second switching device configurable to connect the endpoint to the data center by sending one or more type-specific commands to the first switching device and the second switching device; and 
 calculating a price of the user requirement based on the network topology. 
 
     
     
       16. The one or more tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the price is further calculated based on an endpoint location associated with the endpoint and a data center location associated with the data center. 
     
     
       17. The one or more tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the price is further calculated based on a required bandwidth associated with the user requirement.